FlightLine   

                                   Rich Richardson                                          Jerry Mahl                                                     Kenny Howerton      

                             Editor/Web Master/Sec                                       President                                                        Vice President   

May 2008

Meeting Notes

The meeting was called to order at 7 pm, May 6, with 15 members present.   Francis presented the treasurers report.  As of April 30, there is $1211.93 in the account.

    Old business; There was no old business to discuss.

    New business: 

 March is the month the club yearly dues are paid.  Club membership dues are $75.00, from March 1 to the4 last day of February.  If you have not paid your 2008 club dues, Please see Francis as soon as possible. 

It seems we are having problems with the combination lock on the gate.  Everyone has the correct combination ( if not call me ), roll the number all the way through, then push the shank into the lock then give a hard yank.  We have changed the lock this year but the heavy dust sometimes makes it hand to open.     

Kenny & Jerry proposed an idea to change the safety barrier along the runway.  The barrier has become unsightly and  does not offer much protection.   Their proposal is for 5, 4 ft high x 8ft long fences, spaced 10 ft apart, positioned 90 degrees from the runway.  The pilot stands in the confines of these barrier top fly his model.   Each barrier is wide enough to taxi his plane to the runway and should an emergency arise with someone lose of control of their airplane, you can duck down into the 4 ft barrier.  The safety barrier has been completed.  Several member were on hand to help with the work.  The seems to work well and offer a great deal more protection than the other barrier.  The barriers are large enough to start and taxi your plane to the runway.  The best part of this project is that 98% of the materials were donated by Kenny and Jerry.

Our annual Spring Fling was held April 26, several members turn out for the event.   Good food, beautiful flying weather and mishap free flying (NO CRASHES).  Check out the picture posted on the Spring Fling page!

Francis will be installing the new carpet on the work table very soon.   Purchase of the carpet was approved at an earlier meeting.  He said he will repair the engine run up stands as well.

Many of us are flying these homemade Combat Planes, they are cheap, easy to build and fun to fly.  We have the wings, instructions and a list of required materials.  The more planes in the combat heat the better.  If you are interested just ask me or Jerry. 

We have three new members under the family plan, Phillip Robins, Dad, Samuel & Samuel Perez.

No farther business, the meeting adjourned at 8:15Pm. 

Touch & Goes:

    This column is usually devoted to club activities at the flying field,  I must admit I have not been taking my camera to the field.  

  In the Pattern:

    This column devoted to the members who have projects on the building board.  If you are working on a project and would to like to share the progress of your project or have a building tip, call or e-mail me jwrich1@suddenlink.net

    I am about finished building the Balsa USA Fokker D-VII,  WW I biplane.  This is a 1/4 scale airplane and produces a very large model.   I found a very good web site devoted to building R/C scale airplanes www.rcscalebuilder.com .  This a forum type site, where you share your ideas and building projects.  Check it out you will be amazed at what is there.  Many modelers do a build alongs, that's where you post pictures of your progress and share ideas in building scale projects.  In the beginning I had not planned to completely scale out the D VII, but the more I got into it I realized it was not that difficult to the scale detail work.  Many of the ideas I am using are the result of ideas posted on these threads.  All the builders are very helpful and encouraging by responding to your posts.  The site is broken down into sections,  airplanes plans service , major kit manufactures, general and misc.  I have a thread in the kit section under Balsa USA, listed as Building the BUSA Fokker D VII.  This is a build along, I have posted pictures of my progress and others have responded with ideas, suggestions and encouragement.     Check out this web site, it is great!  Here is the latest pictures of the progress.   . 

!Up Date!  I have flown the Fokker D VII.   I had to wait for a day that was not blowing more than 10 mph and no cross wind.  

   This one has been a joy to build, I am very please with the results.  The maiden flight was great, controls were very sanative but stable.  After adjusting the control throws on the servos and on the transmitter the airplanes performs beautifully.  I plan to take it to the War Bird Fly-In at Yukon May 17th.  By the way the color scheme is that Oblt. Erich Lowenhardt, he was the Commander of Jasta 10 and the reason for the 3 three streamers.  He was also the 3rd highest scoring German Ace of WW1.

    Helpful Hints:

These hints come from the AMA National Newsletter on their web site, go to publication, click on newsletter.  They have past issue as well, this is a very helpful web site.  www.modelaircraft.org

Tagging Servo Plugs

Radio manufacturers used to give you a sheet of little tags to identify your servo plugs, so you'd know where to plug them into the receiver. They don't any more.  Those were really handy - you just stuck them on the wire near the plug as you installed the servos. This is very handy after you have just changed out a receiver, or had to remove it to get to the fuel tank. Instead of guessing which plug is which, you KNOW which, because you've tagged them!If you have a computer, or are buddies with someone who does, make up a few ordinary mailing labels with the computer's label maker. Put the text in similar to the illustration, and then you can cut off each of the tags with scissors. Apply by wrapping around the servo wires near the plugs.

Make Your Own Decals

I recently picked up a package of Apollo Inkjet Film #17320 at Office Depot in the transparencies - overheads section. It is Glossy White, Adhesive Backed, and thin. 20 - 8 1/2 x 11 sheets to a pack.   I have tried a couple pages in my HP540 printer. The stuff prints very well. I protect the ink with very light coats of clear gloss (very slight running of the ink) or with clear scotch tape.   I can now down load a logo off the net and print it onto this sheet at any scale I want or draw and scan my own. If I had a better printer say 600 dpi, the possibilities or making my own logos and markings would be endless. 

Using CA the Right Way

You know, CA is getting to be down right expensive. Especially when you are building a big airplane. But, with a little management on your part, you can hold the usage to a minimum and get a little more mileage on a bottle.  One good way is to use it for pinning a part in place, that is to hold it in place, and then apply the cheaper white glue or epoxy to do the real holding. I have done this many times in the past with great results. When applying white glue use it sparingly. Most modelers apply too much adding unnecessary weight to the model. Here is a couple of helpful hints I ran across that will make things go easier when using CA: 

• Once opened, always leave the cap off the bottle. Why? The cap is not made of the special thermoplastic the tip is made from and CA will stick to it gluing it in place. 
• When a blob of CA forms across the end of the bottle tip, knock it off with the back edge of an X-Acto knife. Bet you didn't know this: for worse clogs, take a rag and hold it against the tip until the CA bonds to the rag. Hold the rag tightly against the tip and twist the bottle while pulling it back. Grab on to the blob with a pair of pliers and twist it off. This will also work. 
• Never stick a pin or anything else into the tip of a CA bottle to open it or to remove a clog. This will introduce foreign material into the bottle and scratch the inside of the tip, which will cause more clogging. It is better to replace the bottle top with a new one if this becomes a problem. Keep a small bottle of acetone handy and placed your clogged tips in it. Next time you need one it will be free. Always open a bottle by cutting off the tip with an X-Acto knife. Don't squeeze the bottle when doing so and have it pointed at your face. Bad news! 
• Use accelerator sparingly and only when needed. Don't flood the joint with it. A light mist is all you need. Too much accelerator will weaken the glue joint. 

These are some of the tips I have run across and hopefully you can add them to your idea folder, making CA more cost effective and agreeable with your modeling dollar. 

Repairing Dings and Dents

Have you ever had a dent in a balsa leading edge? Try fixing it with water! Get a small diabetic syringe and put water in it. Inject a little water into the balsa into and around the dent in the leading edge. Heat the area with your covering iron. When the water starts boiling, it will build pressure and push the balsa out to its original shape.

12 Rules of Model Aviation

1. Perfection in model building is a desirable goal, unless completion of the airplane within your lifetime is important.
2. Airspeed is life to your model, altitude is life insurance. No airplane ever collided with the sky.
3. Always fly your airplane with your head, not just your hands. Never let your model go somewhere your brain didn’t get to five seconds earlier.
4. The probability of model survival is equal to the angle of arrival.
5. Flying a model airplane is not dangerous; crashing it is dangerous.
6. Good judgment comes from experience and experience comes from bad judgment.
7. There are three simple rules for making a smooth landing. Unfortunately, no one knows what they are.
8. It’s a good landing if you can still bend the landing gear back to its normal position.
9. A fool and his money are soon flying a more aerobatic model than he can handle.
10. The nicer an airplane looks, the more likely it is to crash.
11. A model airplane may disappoint a good pilot, but it won’t surprise him.
12. If God meant for man to fly model jets, He’d have given him more money.

Presidents Corner

Be active, fly often, fly safe and have fun!

Jerry Mahl,    Club President

Final Approach:

       Stay active, enjoy your hobby and keep your family and friends close.   

See You at the Field

Keep'em Flyin

Rich

Club Meeting:

The next club meeting is June 3, 7 pm, at the Next Door Restaurant.

Go see James at the Hobby Shop

Support  Charlie's Hobbies, he has the best prices in town!!

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